Follow Your Heart
by AliceH4
Summary: Annamis Parastar is a physician who is tempted to join the American Army after September 11. Is her nationality going to cause her problems? Will she find the love of her life in the meantime? Rated M for Violence, Strong Language and Sexual Matters.


Chapter I

"Jerry, if I don't get my head CT down here right now…"

"OKAY alright, I'm coming. Jesus, woman." Jerry hissed, slamming the phone back on its hanger on the wall.

Annamis Parastar shook her head and waited for the middle aged man to come down the stairs. Jerry handed her a pile of charts and scans. This was everyday routine for Annamis; threatening Jerry for being late and giving him a glare that would last three to five seconds, before the poor guy mumbles an apology and heads back to his room.

She frowned at the scan she was holding and walked out of the hall, heading to one of the trauma curtains. "When did you fall from the ladder, Mr. Hotch?" she asked her patient putting his scan on the illuminator, following the line of his slightly fractured scalp. The minute the question was out of her mouth, Mr. Hotch started his never ending story of how he fell and yet, she didn't get the answer she wanted. After fifteen minutes, she finally walked out of the small cube, sliding the yellow curtains quite harshly to the side.

"Someone's having a bad day", one of the nurses said with a smirk. She erased her name from the board and headed to the changing room. "Yeah, but guess what? I'm out of here in five minutes" she smiled thinking about her comfy couch and a hot bath. The door to the changing room sprang open and one of the nurses, holding his hands in the air appeared at the door. "Anna, multiple GSWs" he shouted, and rushed to one of the gurneys. Sighing, Anna put her scrubs back on and ran out, "Or maybe in an hour" she mumbled.

Two hours later, she stopped the CPR and jumped down from the gurney she had climbed on. "That's it. Time of death…" she looked at the clock in the room and sighed, "ten forty five". With that the room fell into silence. The only thing that broke it was the beeping of the monitors. "Good job Doctor P", one of the nurses patted her on the back. It is true that she lost one patient, but she saved the lives of a mother and a new born child in the past hour. She thanked God, the boy laying on the bed didn't have a family to give the news to. She hated that part; she was always the one to tell them their son, or daughter has died, and that you did everything you could, but the injuries were too severe. That how sorry you are for their loss and leave them to gieve.

But instead, she went to the waiting room and looked at the worried man rubbing his hands together. She loved this part; giving a worried man some good news. "You can go inside to see your wife and daughter, Mr. Jones", she smiled as he didn't let her finish her sentence and ran to the room she had pointed.

When Anna walked out of the hospital without being called back inside, she released the breath she was holding and looked at the steam coming from the manholes of Lower Manhattan. Taking in the August air, she felt her head clear instantly.

"Now what do we have here?", said a cheery voice. She turned around and saw Doctor John Wincent standing with his arms spread wide.

"Oh my God, John!", she squealed and hugged him tightly. He spun her around in his arms a couple times before putting her back on the ground. Her light weight and five foot frame, made it easy for anyone to lift her up easily; Anna was used to it by now. She looked at her friend and colleague, whom she hadn't set eyes on for six month. His black hair was longer than usual and his eyes were sparkling.

She held on to his upper arms to keep her balance, and it was then when she noticed he had lost weight. She could swear he'd shrunk two sizes since she'd last seen him. _He has dark circles under his eyes as well, she thought._ How had she missed that? She was a doctor for heavens' sake.

John held her in arms' length and studied her. "You look exactly the same", he observed, but then his eyes went to her left ring finger. She took her hands off of his arms and hid them in her denim pockets. "When did you come back from Vietnam?", she tried to change the subject, her voice rough and that did not escape John.

"I landed a few hours ago. Thought I'd surprise you lot", he shrugged, still looking at her with his dark brown eyes. She felt he could see through her body and into her soul. He always made her feel like that.

"Well, it's great to have you back. I was just going to grab something to eat, but the rest of us are inside", she explained as if she needed to. Why the hell was she so nervous? Oh, wait, yeah. John was the only one who knew her better than anyone else, and he wasn't the type to let go of something.

"I'll check on them later, I don't want to have a chart on my ass on the first day back home." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "We shall dine together", he announced making her laugh. Something she hasn't done in a couple of months; her cheeks felt strange doing so. "Sound like a true Wincent", she smirked. It was nice having him back really. She felt herself relax a bit, leaning on his tall frame. John lead her to one of those fancy restaurants his parents owned.

"I thought you went to Vietnam for a reason, but now I see you're the same son of a bitch", she laughed as she took off her coat, giving it to a well-dressed girl, who was having a hard time keeping her eyes off of John. Rolling her eyes, Annamis checked herself on the mirror covering the side wall of the entrance corridor. Her long black hair had its usual loose curls, and her round face was blushed from the heat.

"Well, thank you so much Anna", he said, leaning back on his chair, "But as you and I both know, it's hard to quit old habits."

She looked around trying to find something to talk about, when he went on first. "So, who is the bastard?", he said, his voice calm but clipped.

She jumped, from the sudden question. "What do you mean? No one is the bastard", she tried her best to sound convincing. John rolled his eyes, and put his elbows on the table, getting closer to her. "Don't try to fool me Anna. I know something is up, and I want to hear it from you."

She sighed and gave up. "I broke up my engagement with Parsa", she said it as fast as she could; as if the speed of saying it could reduce her anger.

John's eyes grew wide in surprise "Why? What happened? I thought everything was going well."

Annamis fanned herself with the menu. The room was getting hotter and hotter. "Look, can we talk about this some other time? It's nothing, really."

John shook his head and held her gaze.

"Then talk if it's nothing", he said after some consideration.

He was not going to give up, and Anna knew it was going to be a very long night. Finally, she slammed the menu on the table and looked at him exasperated.

"What do you want to know, John?", she began flustered, " How he cheated on me? Or how my parents think it's still the right thing to marry him? Or how he didn't even flinch on seeing me in _our_ bedroom when he was with another woman?"

She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. John's face was a mask, hiding his every emotion. Annamis lifted her heavy silver fork and knife and attacked her stake. She hadn't had a stake in years, and her anger caused her appetite to grow, unlike most people.

John just sat there and watched her eat her food, not bothering with his own dish. How hard was it for her to see how much he loved her? How much he cared about her, and how much it hurt him to see her with someone else?

He shook his head, trying to clear it, and took a sip of his wine. After a couple of minutes, Anna finally put the silverware down and looked at him.

"Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you like that", she said, wiping her mouth, "I'm still mad at him. God, I'm mad at myself"

She brushed a strand of hair off her face. She couldn't believe that she had let her parents push her into an arranged marriage. Yet, she was thirty years old, and she couldn't stand against her family's wishes.

Taking a deep breath, she lowered her voice. "It was a few weeks after you left. I was supposed to have a night shift, but Manny said I didn't need to stay the night since there was already enough attendings. Then when I got home, I saw scattered clothes around the house and, well, you know the rest", her voiced faded by the end, and she lifted her head to look at him.

His long forehead was wrinkled by his frown "I'm sorry to hear that. but I'm not sorry for pushing you to talk to me", he smirked. Anna gasped, and threw her napkin at him. Her mood was light. For the rest of the night, neither of them brought the topic back up. They enjoyed each other's company, and their luxurious, but free dinner.


End file.
